Postbaccalaureate application

Select a major

As a postbaccalaureate applicant, you must indicate your intended major or goal for postbaccalaureate study on the application for admission (examples: History, pre-med, preparation for graduate school in psychology). Your application will not be considered if you do not indicate your intended major or goal.

On the online application, choose “Postbaccalaureate Study (Undeclared),” the very last item in the list of majors, if you are preparing for graduate school or you are pre-med, pre-dent or pre-vet.

You are strongly encouraged to contact the program you are interested in well before applying for admission to the UW.

Note: The Nursing deadline is January 15, one month earlier than the UW’s closing date for summer and autumn quarters. If you are seeking admission to the Nursing program, your departmental application must be complete no later than January 15.

All postbaccalaureate students must declare a major by the time they have accumulated 30 credits at the UW after admission as a postbaccalaureate. A student may consult an adviser about a possible extension. Extensions are usually granted if the student has a reasonable chance of being admitted to the major of choice or if the student is making reasonable progress toward a non-degree goal, such as application to a professional program. Students who have neither declared a major nor arranged for an extension by the time they have completed 30 credits past the first bachelor’s degree will be unable to register for the following quarter until they have clarified their degree plans with an adviser.

Statement of purpose

The statement of purpose is the most important part of the application for postbaccalaureate admission. It is your opportunity to provide context to your application.

Maximum length: 750 words

Postbaccalaureate applicants are expected to answer the following questions in their statements:

Why are you pursuing further studies? How did you reach the decision to go into your particular field? What are your long-term academic and professional goals? Be as specific as possible.

If you are preparing to enter a second undergraduate or a graduate or professional program (such as medical, dental, or law school), what courses do you intend to take? If you are ready to begin work in your major immediately, you do not need to list all of the courses comprising the major.

For how many academic quarters do you plan to enroll?

Why is it necessary for you to enroll at the UW? Do other four-year universities or community colleges offer what you need at this time? Can you meet your goal as a nonmatriculated student, attending classes through UW Educational Outreach? (If you are planning to take specific courses in preparation for a graduate or professional program, be aware that access to courses in a particular quarter is not guaranteed.)

If you are seeking admission to an undergraduate program with selective admission criteria, are you assured departmental admission? Applicants preparing for graduate school must meet with an adviser in the department for an assessment of their chances for future admission. It is your responsibility to contact directly the program(s) you are interested in well before applying for admission to the University. Please be aware that postbaccalaureate applicants who are not accepted to their major of choice will not be admitted to the UW.

If you feel your undergraduate GPA is low, why might it be an unreliable indicator of your academic potential? Those students with postbaccalaureate coursework on record, whether from a community college, four-year school or graduate program, may use this opportunity to point out subsequent high performance if it is relevant to their academic plans at the UW.

The application provides a window in which you paste your statement, but it is not a hospitable environment in which to draft, edit and proofread this important part of your application. We recommend you use a word processing program or a text editor to write your statement, then copy the entire document and paste it into the window. Don’t worry if formatting, such as bold, italic, line spacing or font choice, is eliminated when you paste. This will in no way affect the evaluation of your application.

Statements of purpose are reviewed by the Postbaccalaureate Review Committee. Applicants will be notified in writing of the final decision after evaluation of transcripts and the statement of purpose.

Application fee

It cannot be transferred to another quarter, to another campus of the UW, or to another student.

U.S. students

The $80 application fee is nonrefundable, and must be submitted each time you apply.

International students

The $90 application fee is nonrefundable, and must be submitted each time you apply.

Sending transcripts

Official transcripts are required from every college you have attended, even if you didn’t receive credit. Read more about sending transcripts.

English proficiency (international students only)

International students are required to submit an official TOEFL or IELTS score that meets the UW’s minimum English proficiency requirement.

International students who received a Bachelor’s Degree in Australia, Canada (English-speaking provinces), the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand or the U.S. may be exempt from this requirement. Learn more about English proficiency.

Apply now

The U.S. summer/autumn postbaccalaureate application is closed.

The international summer/autumn postbaccalaureate application is closed.